Students and educators from Yonkers Public Schools attended the 2024 My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Symposium in Albany on May 30, 2024. The event, organized by the New York State Education Department, focused on empowering young men of color and featured the induction of four Yonkers students as MBK Fellows.
The new 2024-25 MBK Fellows from Yonkers are Raheem O. Azeez from Barack Obama School for Social Justice, Samuel A. Rodriguez from Lincoln High School, Lenny A. Toribio, Jr. from Roosevelt High School-Early College Studies, and Corbin J. Wright from Charles E. Gorton High School. These students will have leadership and public speaking opportunities throughout the upcoming school year.
The outgoing 2023-24 MBK Fellows, who also attended the symposium, were Justin Lauture from Roosevelt Early College Studies High School, Jason Martinez and Juan Morales from Saunders Trades & Technical High School, and Cameron Williams from Yonkers Middle High School.
Superintendent Aníbal Soler, Jr. expressed pride in the students’ accomplishments.
We’re so proud of how our students are stepping up as leaders and representing Yonkers on the statewide stage. Educators and policymakers across New York look to Yonkers for our success serving young men of color, and we offer a clear and powerful example of what’s possible.
Dr. Jason Baez, the new Executive Director of MBK Yonkers, also attended the event. “I’m thrilled our students had the experience to travel to our capital and represent Yonkers,” he said. “These moments represent powerful opportunities for our students to meet some of the leaders of New York’s educational system and to connect with peers from across the state.”
Yonkers Public Schools, recognized as an MBK Model Community by the Obama Foundation, boasts the highest on-time graduation rate for young men of color in New York State. This designation provides additional support to help students achieve milestones from school readiness to post-graduate employment. The MBK Symposium in Albany highlighted Yonkers’ ongoing commitment to fostering leadership and academic success among its students, setting a benchmark for educational excellence statewide.
